lifeaftr | June Intro: Let's Sea How Far We've Come

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June Intro: Let's Sea How Far We've Come

INTRO LOG: JUNE

Who: Everyone!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr as the island of Ziziphus begins to crumble
When: June 4th and onward
Where: Ziziphus and Ensō...and Monsun
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Ziziphus: At The Start Of The End Of The World
Since Bliss's destruction, the extensive root network they've threaded throughout every inch of the island of Ziziphus has begun to crumble. June 4th marks the beginning of the inevitable collapse of the island as it starts to sink into the sea...coincidentally coinciding with the arrival of LifeAftr's newest adventurers. Between the dead trees surrounding Bliss's empty husk, great cracks in the earth start to widen, the dead god's absent root system leaving vast gaps underground which simply cannot support the life above.

It almost sounds like thunder rupturing from the ground itself, wild tremors preceding each vicious boom until gaping chasms lay between venturing parties and the safety of the mana pool - only water waits below, for those unlucky enough to lose their footing.

And if the immense pull of mile wide chunks of landmass sinking beneath the waves isn't enough to suck you down, the heavy rain of debris from Ziziphus's rapidly destabilizing edges will certainly help. Want to avoid a watery grave? What you need to do is simple:

Escape.

Sorry, newbies. If you showed up on Ziziphus, you're in for a very athletic entrance to LifeAftr.

Monsun: Just Like Every Other Morning Before
Adventurers aren't the only creatures on Ziziphus attempting to outrun its collapse. Creatures great and small, from the largest spindlank to the smallest tigerlily will be heading south in an attempt to escape the worst of the quakes. Unlike offshore adventurers, however, these poor creatures don't have a mana pool waiting for them to escape through. Their extinction, it seems, is imminent.

Unless you have something to say about it.

Already exhausted from their attempts to get through to and then actively dispose of their fellow god, the Storyteller will break their traditional manner of communication to announce a potential solution to this problem with a single broadcast to the Stones of Far Speech in a strained, weary tone:

"The mana pools on Monsun are now open. If you are willing, save what you can."

True to their word, characters will discover that the island of Monsun will be accessible once more for a short period of time. From prey to predator, obstruction to catastrophe - multiple species of flora and fauna can still be preserved, should you choose to do so.

Be wary of the psychological effects of both sides of the island. Those who are new to our setting and wish to explore, the island of Monsun has a peculiar side effect to its stark divide: the eastern half is rich in resources, but brings out the very worst of you, while the western half is a tumultuous wasteland that accentuates your best qualities. More information on said island can be found on its entry on the Locations page, or its introductory info post.

Due to these efforts, the Storyteller will not be available for contact from the 4th to the 18th of June. Item Requests will also be unavailable at this time. They will, however, make a rather strained announcement to ensure all are aware that access to both Ziziphus and Monsun will cease on June 10th.

Ensō: I Wonder What It Means If It's Gone
The native fauna of Ziziphus aren't the only ones on the move, it seems. Those who wander the shores of Ensō will be delighted to witness the appearance of creatures akin to both turtles and dugongs drifting through the waters, gravitating around the island's eastern coast, rapidly gaining in numbers over the following days.

Kaleidoshells have been unlocked in the bestiary!

With spring close to ending in the archipelago, these peaceful creatures are looking to make good use of their natural nesting areas; hope you're open to sharing the beach for a little while. While a few braver individuals will make their way to the shores between C4 and D1 to begin digging nests, the vast majority won't be coming to shore quite yet.

They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Ensō, especially in the evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater, drifting mood lights for the increasingly warmer evening breeze.

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[He hums in response, thinking over the words. It's... a bit what he expected. Those who have been here longer tend to trust the Storyteller more. The more he stays here, the more Kravitz has started to feel for them as well. Usually gods have domains, a whole group of them to manage even a small space. One god ruling life, death, everything in between? Complicated at best. A horrible disaster at worst.]

I suppose that's true. I've met plenty of gods in my time, but they tend to seem so... self assured. But perhaps that comes at the expense of their honesty. I'm not sure which I like better.

...Ha. Hard to tell how confident most of the ones I met were. [That'll happen when most of the 'gods' someone has met were, like... fish, or turtles, or deer. Not even talking ones.]

But I guess I can see the Storyteller's behavior being... offputting if you're used to gods acting like they know what they're doing.

[He sighs.]

I suppose I'm more used to being let in on it. It's been a long time since I've been on the mortal side of things. It's... unsettling.

[To just be taken along for the ride. Hasn't he earned at least a tiny something? Well, not like he earned it from this god.]

Wouldn't it be more comforting? To know the one leading you knows where they're going?

Oh? That mean you're a god, too? [Honestly he wouldn't even be surprised. It wouldn't be the first time he'd heard of a human becoming a god, whether they were born as one or simply fell into the role.]

...I suppose it would. But I'll take this, for now; better than falling under the control of someone competent who means harm.

[He shakes his head no.]

No, just... in service of one. But certainly not alive, not like this. I don't like it, but the Storyteller claims they aren't the one who did this. So I have no choice but to endure.

[Which he!!! Dislikes!!! A lot!!!]

My Lady is much more controlled than this. Her domain is often more clear cut. It's simply not what I'm used to.

[Okay, don't make a joke about how much being alive sucks, don't do it.]

Sounds pretty rough, yeah.

[That's probably innocuous enough.]

Her 'domain'? What do you mean by that?

[No, do it, life is great but not for him and he would love to go back to being undead, thanks. It's much less maitnence.]

A god's ruling area or item, of course. Every god rules over something and manages that aspect of the world. Like gods of nature, or elementals, or fate. My Lady is the Goddess of Death and the Natural Order.

[A little huff.]

All of which seems to be in short supply here for all the wrong reasons.

Area or item, huh...

[And the Natural Order. It's interesting, to think of a single god being in charge of that.]

I'm used to thinking of gods as working somewhat differently, I suppose; where I'm from, if you were to speak of a god's 'domain' it would just be the physical area that god kept in balance. But that doesn't seem to be the case in some worlds.

Area? Deities certainly have temples, but I've never heard of one having control of a specific place. All gods rule all things- it's the facets of the world that are individually managed.

[He's trying to think of how it might work in Ginko's world, coming up a little short.]

Well, I suppose some gods in my world have their own areas, such as the Astral Plane for departed souls.

Sounds like your world's gods have a somewhat broader scope than mine. Ours would simply be in charge of maintaining the balance of a swamp, or mountain... what you're describing sounds closer to the Natural Order itself.

Hm. Facinating.

[Sounds like it would get complicated, in his opinion.]

Did you work for them? Or, uhm, serve any?

Not exactly; our paths crossed, now and then. I tried to help them out where I could, if they needed it. But I moved around too much to work with any one god much. Some others in my line of work interacted with them more closely, but those were the ones who stayed in one place.

[Which... ha. Been there, tried it, never did it again. For as long as there were mushi around to flock to him, anyway.]

[He nods along, seeming to think about it as he's putting the pieces together.]

In that case, if you do not mind me asking... what do you do, exactly? I don't find that most in my world have direct contact with gods, even if they serve them in a holy capacity.

I'm... well, I was a mushi master. [He's not sure he can really say he is one anymore, given that he hasn't even seen a mushi in three years.]

I studied a kind of organism that, from what I've heard, seems to be unique to my world, and the phenomena surrounding them. Since mushi and gods are both pretty closely connected to my world's source of life, there ended up being some inevitable overlap. If a god was ever having trouble, people like me were better-equipped than most to provide help.

[He listens with interest, trying to piece together the information he's being given.]

So then what is a... mushi, exactly? Are they acolytes to gods? Pieces of their being? Or just happen to be related to celestials in some way?

[He's also deeply curious about how one gets that sort of job, but he wouldn't have an answer if someone asked him that, so he's holding off unless it's offered.]

Not really acolytes, no. It's more that they just... happen to be part of the same system. Gods are emissaries of nature's balance, while mushi simply... contribute to the natural order through their existence and natural behaviors. Most don't have much in the way of conscious thought.

[Kravitz hums in response, nodding his head.]

Interesting. I'm not sure we have something comparable where I'm from, except for possibly wisps. But I think more of the Natural Order is handled by my Lady.

[A pause, where he forces down the sudden pang of missing her.]

It's interesting, how our worlds differ. How they all seem to have split differently in creation to similar, yet far differing paths.

Wisps? What are those?

[He gives a slow nod, thoughtful nod in agreement. The similarities and differences between the worlds he's heard about in the past few years have been a lot to adjust to, but...] It's... fascinating, honestly. Breaking down where different worlds line up and split apart. Definitely ensures that hearing about new places doesn't get old.

They're sort of like... the remnants of spirits. Bits of energy left when even a ghost does not remain. Sometimes they are also the concentrated bits of energy of those who cross over. Typically harmless, if they have a will of their own.

[He leans back now, fully comfortable, and nods.]

It certainly is. What an interesting circumstance, to get to live in such a world, however temporary. May we learn from it as it leans from us.

...Huh. That's pretty interesting; even if they're not quite the same, I can certainly see where one would find similarities.

[He gives a quiet laugh.] I hope so. Though, I suppose I could do without some of what I learned from the last world I was in. ...Maybe this place can make up for that.

Edited 2018-10-19 22:49 (UTC)

[He shrugs.]

Maybe we shall see. But you were in another place before this one? I've heard of a few like that, so far. It surprises me to hear how many other worlds there are out there, especially ones that can pull from so many places as this can. It's strange to me this has gone undiscovered for so long from the outside.

I was. For nearly two years.

[Possibly the worst two years of his life, but Kravitz doesn't need to know that unless he asks.]

It's really incredible... I guess we have to assume that it's rare, overall, for people to be pulled from one place to another like this. [He snorts quietly.] Guess that just makes us the lucky ones.

[He won't. That sort of thing feels personal. More personal than this conversation, at least.]

Well, considering there are less than a hundred of us here it seems, and we're talking about an infinite multiverse of billions of planes feeding into one another... yes, I would say it's an incredibly rare instance to be selected as such. Even rarer to make it through more than one. I hope you have found... something fulfilling in that time, however long or short it may be to you.

Hah... thanks. I did manage that, at least.

[He's trying not to dwell too much on the part where he lost most of that when he ended up here, but... it could be worse. Ed is still here. And he's not living in constant terror quite so much anymore. That part is nice.]

And I hope you can find something fulfilling here. There are plenty of interesting people to get to know, at least.

[Kravitz nods, unaware of any hesitation or pain behind his question. He does truly wish the other man well, so hopefully it works out.]

I'll see what I can do. Though I have a feeling if something is coming, it will find me before I find it. But... so far, meeting you has been charming. So thank you.

[He should probably be getting back to camp, himself.]

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onegreeneye - 2018-12-04 04:49 (UTC) - Expand

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